Pandas, Sunflowers, and A Little Bit of Tea
by Ashe Dupre
Summary: Nene Wang is sick and tired of Ivan following her around- but sometimes what you want ends up more complicated than originally planned.


**A/N: Welcome! This is a Human!AU, and there are some Nyo!talia used. Nene is Fem!China, and Sakura is Fem!Japan**

* * *

"For the last time, leave me alone!" Nene Wang huffed in exasperation as she left the Russian behind. She took a quick look back, and immediately regretted it. Ivan was watching her leave, with an expression comparable to a kicked puppy. She turned back and sped up, pushing down her feelings of guilt.

_It isn't my fault! Why can't he just leave me alone! I don't like him, why can't he figure that out?_

She stewed like this all the way home. For years this boy in her class, Ivan, had been making it very clear that he liked her, even though _she_ made it very clear that his feelings were not returned. She couldn't understand it! It wasn't that she was his only option. There was a girl in their class who was completely in love with him, and he barely gave her the time of day!

She came into her house, cheeks flushed with the cold. "I'm home Yao!" she called, only half expecting an answer. Her brother wasn't usually at home when she was. That was just fine with her. They were twins, but they had very different interests, and friends. He was usually at school for sports until late, and he hung out with people from his class when he wasn't.

Nene flopped on her bed, and hugged her stuffed panda. She wouldn't ever admit it, but it was the one gift, the only gift, from Ivan that she'd ever kept. It was just so adorable! She sighed, her thoughts back on the Russian. He could be sweet, if he tried, but he wasn't her type, at all. She groaned, unable to keep from feeling guilty. She had left him standing there, in the cold, with _flowers_ in his hands. _Flowers_! She rolled over, exhaling, and accepted the fact that she was a horrible person.

* * *

"Now, class, I hope that you've all remembered the field trip we have coming up..." Nene sighed. They were high-schoolers and they were still talking to them like they were in first grade. "We'll be going to an international market, since we're such a...unique school."

Right. Unique. Nene attended World, or "W" Academy, an international boarding school. For some odd, and in her opinion stupid, reason, they were put into classes largely geographically. Even stupider, they had something against twins being in the same class. Not siblings; just twins. So, while her brother was in the class with the other kids from Eastern Asia, she was stuck over in the class of Eastern Europeans, generally known around the school as the 'Soviets', to the annoyance of most all of them. Nene blamed Alfred for the start of the nickname. True, pretty much every single one of them came from an ex-USSR country, but still. Well, all except for a certain Chinese girl who sat in the back. Yippee.

* * *

It took several hours to realize, but it finally dawned. Ivan hadn't bothered her once all day. At all. She barely even saw him. She found Yao at lunch to see if he knew what had happened.

"Yao? Yao? What happened to Ivan?"

Her brother turned. "What? Didn't you hear?"

She sighed. "Obviously not, or I wouldn't be asking." Her brother could be a moron.

"Well, Alfred told me-"

"Wait, and you believe him? Since when? Doesn't he owe you, like, $2,000 by this point?"

Yao sniffed. "$1,600. And I didn't believe him, not until I saw it."

"Saw what?"

"Ivan's dating Natalya."

Those were probably the last three words Nene ever thought she would hear. "Um, what? I think I heard you wrong! I could have sworn you just said that Ivan is-"

"-dating Natalya, no, you heard me right. Now, can you please go away? People might start to think I know you."

Nene rolled her eyes and went back to her normal table.

One of her two constant lunch-mates looked up from his book. "What was that? You never talk to your brother in public. Hell, you barely talk to him in private!"

"Language, Arthur!" she snapped, automatically. "Really. And I was asking him if he knew why I wasn't getting followed by a tall, scary Russian today." Sometimes, actually, most times, she wondered why she was still friends with the grouchy, reclusive, British bookworm. Probably so he wouldn't accidentally kill himself with his own cooking.

"And why was that?" her other companion asked. Sakura Honda was Nene's best friend, even though their brothers have barely spoken since a huge fight a few years ago.

Nene paused for dramatic effect, and then announced, "Because he's dating Natalya." Arthur nearly choked, from his scone or the news, she couldn't tell. Even Sakura's eyes widened, and Nene's Japanese friend was well known for keeping a poker face through most any news.

"But-but-but-huh? Arthur sputtered, shocked. Everyone knew that while Natalya had a huge crush on Ivan, the feeling was not returned. Natalya wasn't a bad girl; she could be nice. She was just a very, very...intense person sometimes. She was that girl that if she liked you, she would plan your wedding, children, and grandchildren.

Nene sighed and bit her lip. "It might be because..." She proceeded to explain what had happened yesterday. After she finished, both Sakura and Arthur were shaking their heads.

"You are a horrible person. He had flowers? Guys don't get flowers just for kicks; do you know how expensive they are?" Arthur asked, echoing Nene's thoughts from last night.

"I know, I know, I'm a horrible, heartless monster. But, do you think…?"

"We'll see at the field trip I suppose. We have to go or we'll be late," Sakura pointed out. Nene dumped her tray, and the three headed to their classes.

* * *

It had been several days, and it looked like the rumors were true. Ivan and Natalya were together. Contrary to popular belief, and the school betting pool, they were fairly happy together, or at least it seemed so. Nene had even talked to Ivan a few times since, and they agreed that they could get along, since Nene's only issue was Ivan's crush on her. Now that he had a girlfriend, there was really no reason for them not to be friends. He wasn't actually that bad, she thought, watching Natalya and Ivan together.

* * *

"Now, I want you to remember that you're in public, and to be respectful. Now, let's meet up with the other classes and-"

The rest of what the teacher was going to say was drowned out by the very loud yell that came from the front of the group. "BRUDER! HEY BRUDER! OVER HEEERE!" There was a loud thwack that shortly followed.

"Thank you Ms. Hedevary, though perhaps a less violent route next time? And Mr. Beilschmidt, please contain your enthusiasm, you will see your brother soon enough." Nene felt a bit bad for the teacher, as she had to deal with Gilbert Beilschmidt. The self-proclaimed 'Prussian' (who was just as German as his younger brother) was loud, obnoxious, and generally a pain to have in class.

"Ze awesome me doesn't need to-" Another thwack.

"Moving on, you may…disperse now," the teacher said, rubbing her temples, obviously feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on.

* * *

Nene wandered around, bored. She couldn't find Arthur or Sakura for the life of her, and if Sakura hadn't had a boyfriend Nene would have been suspicious. She turned a corner, and quickly turned around. Ivan and Natalya were around the corner, looking around and…holding hands. Wow. They looked…happy together.

_Well, that's perfect! Great for them._

* * *

Nene still couldn't find Arthur or Sakura. She wandered around, and heard something up ahead.

She turned, and saw Natalya sitting on one of the couches they had for sale, one more out of sight. She walked up slowly, not seeing Ivan anywhere.

_Strange, they've been nearly inseparable._

"Are-are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Go away." Nene ignored her and walked closer. Natalya wiped at her eyes, turning away.

_Was she…crying?_

Nene went over to the girl. "What's wrong?"

With that, Natalya started crying again. "It-it's Ivan..."

Nene frowned. She didn't know Natalya very well, but crying? This was something that needed attention. "What did he do?"

"He-he didn't _do_ anything, it's just- there's no way he's actually with me because he likes me, I've heard what people say. He's just doing this so I'll leave him alone, I'm so stupid. Look, you go, I'm just wasting your time here, you don't want to stay here and listen to me. Go have fun."

Nene grabbed Natalya's shoulders. "Look at me. You aren't wasting my time-"

"Yes, I am! Go, I'll be fine here. I'm just…a big waste of time." Natalya covered her face again.

"Listen. You aren't wasting my time. If I wanted to go, I would." Nene gave a small smile and hugged her. "I have an idea. Let's go grab some chocolate. Chocolate is the answer to everything. Plus, we're in a giant store, there has to be some somewhere."

"I-I'm alright. I…I don't want to run into him. He's probably looking for me…" She sniffed.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you away, I'm a pro." They both smiled, tentatively. Natalya could be a very sweet girl at times, Nene was discovering.

* * *

They meandered around, with Nene's arm around Natalya. She blathered aimlessly, and steered them away when they were coming up on an aisle that Ivan was in. After a few times he began to catch on to the fact that they were avoiding him, and gave Nene a questioning look when she was walking away. She shook her head with a look that screamed 'not now', leaving him even more confused.

Nene found Arthur, finally. Sakura was nowhere in sight. "Arthur! Hi, can you take Natalya and get some chocolate?" She gave him a pointed look.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, and gave her a look back that nearly shouted 'you owe me', but held out his arm to Natalya. "Shall we, love?" Natalya looked skeptical, but went with him.

Nene watched them go, then went off to find a certain someone.

* * *

Nene caught up to Arthur and Natalya a little while later. They were in the tea section; shocker. "Hey Arthur, I said _chocolate_!"

"We did get chocolate! Then we came to look at tea..." Arthur muttered.

"Natalya? May I please talk to you?" An accented voice came from behind them, startling all three. Ivan stood there, looking nervous and hopeful at the same time.

"Um, well…"

Nene grabbed Arthur's arm and led him away slowly. Once they had gotten to the next aisle, he turned, pulling his arm away. "Now will you tell me what all of that was?" he asked, looking a bit cross.

Nene explained the situation. "…and I needed you to keep her distracted while I talked to the oblivious wonder. So, thanks."

Arthur just looked at her, bemused. "But… why do you care so much? Wouldn't it have been easier to just leave it alone? I know that you don't like Ivan, and you barely know Natalya."

"Well…um...well... I don't know. But, shush." She poked her head around the corner, where Natalya was nodding, tears in her eyes. She feared the worst, but then Natalya hugged Ivan, and he was talking to her, telling her how of course he really loved her, and that it wasn't just to get her to leave him alone. He then said something to her that made her grin, and… they kissed. Nene smiled, but felt an odd pang in her heart. He really was sweet…

* * *

Natalya came around the corner, and nearly ran into Nene. She gave her a hug. "Thank you so much. Did you talk to him?"

Nene put a smile on her face. "I didn't say a word!" she said, holding up her hands.

"I don't believe you," the other girl said, smiling. "But, it turns out he was being so distant because he wanted to ask me to the dance. Just, thank you." Natalya turned and went back over to Ivan, who nodded at the Chinese girl left alone in the aisle. She smiled and nodded back.

She heard someone come up behind her. "Don't tell me you've gone and changed your mind, love?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" she replied, not looking at Arthur.

"Do you- you don't _like_ him now, do you?"

She sniffed. "I- I don't know," she said in a small voice.

Arthur exhaled, rolling his eyes. "Has anyone told you what amazing timing you have?"

She smacked him on the arm. "Shut up. I didn't ask for your opinion." She sniffed again. "It's just...he can be really sweet. I just didn't notice..."

"Well, if you had reached that conclusion earlier, all of this could be avoided."

"You're a-a- ein arsch."

"And you've been around Gilbert Beilschmidt for too long. Really, and you give me a hard time for _my_ language."

The girl glared up at her friend, who despite his annoyances was making her feel a bit better.

"However," he continued, stretching, "if you had reached that enlightening conclusion earlier, I would be going to the dance dateless. So, everything pans out, I suppose."

Nene's look changed to one of disbelief. "Excuse me? Getting ahead of yourself aren't we?"

He merely smirked infuriatingly. "Well, Sakura's going with Heracles, obviously, they've been dating for months," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's entertaining to think that they still think it's a secret. Furthermore, who else would you go with? You would rather die than go with Yao or one of his friends, and I know that Kiku is going with Mei. So, since both of us are dateless, we're going together!" He smirked again at this pronouncement, as if he had just won a huge debate.

Nene looked back at him and shook her head in wonder at her friend. "Your "logic" astounds me sometimes…"

Arthur deflated slightly. "Is... that a no?"

"You never actually asked, moron," she snorted. "And, yes, because you spent so much energy on that train of thought." Arthur's know-it-all smirk crept back onto his face, but was quickly crushed by Nene's next sentence. "And we both know that you'd be sitting alone and lonely at home if I didn't say yes, and when you're lonely you cook, and the fire department _should_ have the night off, don't you think?"

"Hey! That's just mean." Arthur huffed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, smart aleck, you win. Now, let's go look at those teas, you dragged me away last time."

"Teas?" she scoffed. "What you call tea maybe. Let me show you some real tea..." She then led a protesting Brit off towards the Chinese area of the market, unaware of the two watching them.

* * *

"She likes you back now..." Natalya said softly.

Ivan nodded, and was quiet for a moment. True, he had had feelings for Nene Wang since they were children, and a part of him was thrilled to hear that she returned them, even a little, but now... "I have you now," he said at the same volume, and he pulled Natalya- no, he pulled _his girlfriend_ into his arms.

* * *

**A/N: Well...yeah. This is the first thing I have posted here. Any and all Reviews are welcome!**


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